FTX: Global VECTOR Released

[jabloomf1230 2,445]

Will there not be a new version of UTX in the future?

The link that meshman provided above indicates that UTX for P3d2 might beat ORBX's FTXG OpenLC out the door. Interesting times in flight sim land.

[LeeL 272]

I'm not saying a lot of work didn't go into this but... I still can't fathom spending $260 for Global + Vector when I only fly in maybe 5% of the world..

And this is the problem.

 

The prices for the whole world are crazy. For Global I could kind of understand but $100 was still crazy.

 

But vector or LC they could've at least split into two versions. Maybe Europe, North and South America in one and Africa, Asia and Oceania in the other. Even if it was a total success the price would stop me

[Sportsfan23 2]

Agreed, they technically 'work' together but there is the issue of the TERRAIN.CFG hack you need to do to get the FTX Global vector road lights with UTX .

 

Does FTX Vector provide a similar 'illuminated' roadways that UTX adds to the night lighting? That's one thing I really like about the merger of FTX Global and UTX.

 

Could you explain how to do this please as I just installed UTX? It says on the box that UTX has it's own set of night lighting. Is the consensus FTX global lighting is better than UTX? 

[odourboy 1,290]

Could you explain how to do this please as I just installed UTX? It says on the box that UTX has it's own set of night lighting. Is the consensus FTX global lighting is better than UTX? 

Details on how to do this were discussed most recently in this thread: http://forum.avsim.net/topic/423909-my-modified-attached-terraincfg-entries-to-give-you-vector-lighting-on-all-urban-and-rural-roads-and-bridges/

 

Hope that helps!

[cvearl 60]

Each to his own... but you never said if the FTX Vector roads look as fantastic at night as the UTX ones did?

 

I preferred the look of UTX lights. On roads. In cities. Wherever. Just turn off Vector Lights in FTX Central and leave lights on in UTX control panel. My preference I guess.

 

C.

And this is the problem.

 

The prices for the whole world are crazy. For Global I could kind of understand but $100 was still crazy.

 

But vector or LC they could've at least split into two versions. Maybe Europe, North and South America in one and Africa, Asia and Oceania in the other. Even if it was a total success the price would stop me

 

You can buy the whole Americas Global Mesh from Pilots for $50. Canada, US, Alaska and South America all in. Or all of Europe with Africa for $50.

 

Charles.

[Pe11e 812]

I bought this. Loaded up FSX, saw some stutters here and there, went to scenery library and started to move both entries of global vector up and down, then tested it, then moving it again, and again to the point I forgot where originally the entries were in scenery library. Could someone check the scenery library and where the vector entries are placed (screenshot)? I appreciate the help! Thanks!

 

BTW from the manual:

 

"What is very important to note is that the Vector installer places those entries at very specific locations in your
Scenery Library and locks them in. PLEASE DO NOT MOVE THEM UP OR DOWN IN THE SCENERY LIBRARY."

 

I'm an idiot. :lol:

[Dreamflight767 312]

Has anyone been able to get the 10% discount to work for owners of FTXG? Orbx said that FSS would automatically apply the discount, but I got all the way to the "Confirm Order" page, and the price is unchanged. Just curious if others have had any luck.

 

 

Yes.  I thought the discount would be applied when I placed the order.  Instead, it charged me the full price.  I emailed them asking for a credit back to my card.  So far, no response.  This happened last night (24 hours ago).

[Noel 4,504]

The problem with Vector, is its a all or nothing install. If you wan't to keep UTX for US and Europe but use Vector for the rest of the world, you can't.

As well, they did not bother to include an uninstaller, nor a user interface to control whether road vector data is displayed or not.   At this price that is preposterous.  Hopefully they will add these two basic features after which I will install the software I paid for.   

[Lawyer+Pilot 126]

Yes. I thought the discount would be applied when I placed the order. Instead, it charged me the full price. I emailed them asking for a credit back to my card. So far, no response. This happened last night (24 hours ago).

$6 isn't a whole lot of money, but that's just sloppy and unprofessional. I was on the fence as it was. What a disaster of a release.

[meshman 109]

The problem with Vector, is its a all or nothing install. If you wan't to keep UTX for US and Europe but use Vector for the rest of the world, you can't.

 

Are you sure about this, Tom? Within the framework of the SDKs most everything is subject to either exclusion or layering priority with the Scenery Library.

[ZKOKQ 984]

Hard pressed to find any negative posts in the Orbx forum, they must have employed a full time post deleter.

[Jimmy RFR 406]

Are you sure about this, Tom? Within the framework of the SDKs most everything is subject to either exclusion or layering priority with the Scenery Library.

This. I'd be very curious if this isn't the case, whether it be using UTX overtop of FTXG Vector, or anything else such as freeware for that matter. Unlike the FTX Global textures, which are used throughout the sim, the FTX vector items should be subject to all of the scenery layering rules. If they weren't, then the FTX regions wouldn't be able to display properly either.

 

This still doesn't remove the need for more fine grained control over what level of roads are displayed. It's obvious that UTX was doing something right with their control panel, why would Pilots ignore that approach?

 

As for all of the surprise over the recommendations of using a high quality mesh along with a vector product, that really shouldn't come as a surprise... I mean, the two kinda go hand in hand - if you redefine where coastlines or lakes are drawn from what was in default, you're going to kinda want the terrain elevation data to match.

 

That said, this is one time where I'm not sad to be away from home and thus 'missing out' on being and early adopter. My concerns remain:

 

- Lack of control over what roads are visible. It's clear that too much of the urban grid is visible for my liking, much like turning on all of the minor urban roads in UTX.

- Green road sidings visible within cities. I don't know if it's simply an all or nothing thing, but I'd prefer nothing over green. Plus those large green sidings kill even more autogen.

- Lack of an uninstaller. This is only a minor concern for FSX, as I would fully intend on installing to a blank FSX copy. However, it's major concern for my P3D install.

 

I was fully intending on breaking out the credit card when I get home; I may watch from the sidelines a bit longer instead.

[Guest]

Are you sure those are frozen lakes, or are the water bodies missing and you're seeing bare, snow covered ground? (Flip to spring/summer to check if you could!)

 

Here ya go Greg, should answer your question:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm not claiming FTX Vector is perfect, nor FTX Global, nor P3DV2, nor FSX, nor XP10, nor ... well you get the picture.  I just try to make the best out of what works and what doesn't and work around what doesn't ... when something just doesn't work at all or causes too many problem I just remove/uninstall it.

 

Cheers, Rob.

[GSalden 4,670]

For now I will be staying with UTX.

To make cities look better I turned of residential roads and modified several roads width according to what NickN advised.

 

Surely UTX is only North America, Europe and Alaska, but there is probably the biggest Fs market.

 

I am sure at Orbx they will listen to their customers and will modify it.

But for now UTX with all it's features and professionally data is way ahead of FTX Vector.

[eminyilmaz 17]

It seems traditional Orbx bashing started again. This happens every time they release a major product, but after couple of months I see everybody is using their product.

 

Ftx Vector is a great product for me because I spend a lot of time flying at Asia. There're lot of payware-freeware options to choose for US and Europe out there, even default scenery is not that bad in US and Europe compared to Asia. This is the only choice we have for Asia. I am grateful to Orbx for trying to come up with global solutions.